‘Ups, downs of being Jeremiah Gyang’s brother’

Jeremiah and Sammy Gyang
Daily Trust: How would you describe Jeremiah?

Sammy Gyang: Jeremiah is a phenomenal personality that I really admire. He is very different from other people. Knowing him most times, I realised how very intelligent he is, from afar he can read things and he knows how to relate with people.

DT: Can you share an interesting childhood memory with him?

Sammy:  Well, he is far older than me, there was a time that we didn’t really grow up together because what we did in our extended family was that sometimes they sent some of us go to stay with some relations while some of them came over to stay just like an exchange. But when he was around, he was very close to our dad and it was difficult to relate with him but one thing I can remember while growing up was that he loved to learn by himself. I remember our dad would buy a keyboard or toy and he would want to dismantle it and when there was a problem he tried to sort it out by himself.

DT: While growing up, did he have a pet name?

Sammy: Everyone called him Jerry, but that’s just the short form of Jeremiah.

DT: Your father was also a famous musician, was there ever a time both of you felt pressured to excel because of your surname?

Sammy: Yes, actually on many counts because we grew up in a very religious background as Christians and my dad was also a preacher. He always wanted us to do the right thing, he didn’t want us to go into the secular field, so we were always scared of our identity as well. I mean we were scared of deviating from what he taught us because we are living in a particular system in Nigeria that if you don’t do a particular kind of thing in the limelight of the industry, you won’t get followers because the secular world has taken over everything. So we felt a lot of pressure out there mingling around in the secular world with our music, it’s been quite difficult to accept us for who we are.  

DT: What are the upside and downside of being Jeremiah Gyang’s brother?

Sammy: The upside is respect for the family name and more fame because anywhere I go, they know my name but once they just hear Gyang they’d say; ‘Are you Jeremiah Gyang’s brother?’ I’d say like; yes and they’d shake my hand and say, ‘well done sir,’ and some people would say, ‘No wonder, it must run in the blood.’ The upside is actually much because Jeremiah has actually done a lot in the industry, he has laid that legacy, so sometimes, once they discover that I am his brother, they try to make it look like it’s a competition which is very wrong. I don’t like it because I learnt everything from him. All my musical abilities, playing the instruments, production, I learnt everything from him.

DT: What part of his personality would you say has influenced yours?

Sammy: He is disciplined, and has the fear of God. You can’t spend five to 10 minutes with him without him preaching. He keeps telling us that it is what he lives for, and that God must come before anything. That influences me to watch over my own life, and that it is not about fame, fame is nothing without God.

DT: Did you have a fierce sibling rivalry or did you just get along while growing up?

Sammy: We actually got along while growing up because the seniority was there. There were two females after him then, and I grew up more with my sisters than with him because he was with one of our uncles at some point. Anytime he came by, we were always happy to have him but for me, there was that seniority which I didn’t like but it was a way of growing up.

DT: Did that seniority rob you of enjoying your brother’s friendship?

Sammy: At some point it did, because it made me afraid of him, but then I was just a child and I was growing up. It is normal to have that authority when the age gap is a bit wide but when I got to a particular time in my life, the relationship changed, he became more of a friend.

DT: What gets him upset the most?

Sammy: He dislikes dishonesty and if there is a problem and you know that y